The five-member crew of Pivot Airlines, who were detained in the Dominican Republic for nearly eight months, have now returned to Canada.

The reunion took place at Toronto Pearson International Airport, where the flight attendants, the pilot, the co-pilot, and the mechanic were welcomed by their families.

The crew landed just after 7 p.m., where pilot Rob De Finanzo embraced his wife Melanie, who also works in the same field, and their teenage son Tyler.

For the record, on last April 5th, shortly before taking off from Punta Cana International Airport on the return flight to Toronto with seven Canadian passengers on board the chartered plane, the crew discovered eight large bags in the aircraft's avionics compartment, and they immediately notified the Dominican authorities. The bags contained 210 kilograms of cocaine.

De Finanzo told W5: "There is no doubt in my mind that if we had been flying or attempted to fly at that time, we would have been in trouble."

The crew thought they would be celebrated as heroes, but instead, they were imprisoned for nine days before being released on bail.

Since then, they have remained under effective house arrest, without their passports, on the no-fly list, and have been moved to five different safe houses with 24-hour armed protection, as Dominican laws allow a suspect to be detained for up to a year without charges being filed against them. The crew also added that they were not questioned by the Dominican authorities.

It is unclear why the case was suddenly dropped when the Attorney General issued the decision on November 11, simply stating that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.